Hopewell Valley's Night Off is Thursday, March 1

This community-wide initiative was designed in response to the increasing demands of work and school on personal and family time. With the support of local school officials, sports leaders, parents, community and religious leaders, all sports practices, classes and homework will be canceled on this special evening.Make it a tech-free night!

Don't know what to do on your night off? Here are some ideas:

Set up an email away message: Example: Thank you for your email. Right now my family and I are far away from any digital devices as we celebrate Hopewell Valley’s Night Off. I’ll be happy to get back to you tomorrow.

Have a formal family dinner. Set the table with your best tableware, have everyone dress up and use your best manners. This is a fun way to teach table manners.

Write a story. Write a story together. Decide on characters and theme, and then let each family member come up with a one-page chapter for the book. Put it together and read aloud to find out what adventures the characters encounter.

Color together. Bring out the pile of coloring books and bucket of crayons and have everyone sit at the dining room table and color. This is a good way to let the conversation flow while everyone is creating. Adult coloring books count!

Read under a blanket. Read under a blanket tent. Set up a huge blanket tent in the living room and have the entire family sit under it while one family member reads a favorite book out loud.

Game night. Brush the dust off those board games or buy a new one for the occasion. Serve fun snacks.

Bake together. Take turns picking favorite recipes out of a cookbook and enjoy the fun.

Cook together. Plan, shop and cook a meal that everyone agrees on and let the whole family help in preparing it.

Just Talk. Dinnertime can be a perfect time to talk with your family. Here is a list of conversation starters.